Ship-saving device.



M. F. FOSTER. SHIP SAVING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED mu. 7. I916.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

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M. F. FOSTER.

SHIP SAVING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JAN-7.1916.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

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MARION FRANKLIN ros'rna, or SUTTON, NEBRASKA.

SHIP-SAVING- DEVICE.

Specification of Iietters Patent. Patented Mar, 27, 1%17.

Application filed January 7, 1916. Serial No. 70,845.

To all whom it may. concern:

Be it known that I, MARIQN F. FosTnR, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Sutton, in the county of Clay and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ship-Saving Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a ship saving device particularly of that type characterized by the fact that floatable means are provided on the major hull of the ship for release only when the ship is in a sinking condition.

One object of the present invention is to provide a device of this sort which, may be easily brought into use when a ship is in a sinking condition.

Another object is to provide a device of this sort which will act automatically and thus prevent, immediate sinking of the ship upon impact with a solid obstacle.

A still further object consists in providing three separate superposed boats releasable from each other, so that when one is injured it may be released from the next succeeding boat and permitted to sink, and further in providing air passages and passenger conveyors between the difl'erent sections when separated from each other.

With the above and other objects in view, I will now proceed to describe a specific embodiment of my invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat constructed according to my invention,

Fig. 2 is a side. elevation of the boat with the three sections separated,

.Fig. 3 is a view, in side elevation, of merely the uppermost section,

Fig. 4: is a View of one of the ratchet mechanisms for controlling the lower section of the boat,

Fig. 5 is a view ofone of the windlasses controlling the lowering of the lowermost section,

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view showing the mechanism for entirely releasing the lowermost section from the next adjacent section,

Fig. 7 is a View, in section, of the details of the top of the passenger conveyor running from the middle section to the uppermost section when said sections are separated, and, V

Fig, 8. is a view, in perspective, of one of the releasing members for the lowermost section.

In detail:

The boat comprises the lowermost section A, the middle section B and the uppermost section C, each of which sections are provided with the usual conveniences incident to a complete boat and are capable of use as such, said sections when forming the complete boat being superposed upon each other as shown in Fig. 1. The said sections A, B and C are each constructed buoyant and have a capacity sufficient to accommodate the full load of the boat when in the assembled position as shown in Fig. 1. The lowermost section A carries the propeller 1 and two windlasses 2 and 3 each of which is provided with a drum 4, crank 5, ratchet wheel 6 and weight released pawl 7 controlled by spring 8. The weight 9 of the weight release pawl 7 is normally in the position shown in Fig. 5 and thus when the lower section 9 comes into contact with some obstacle such as an iceberg, another ship or the like, the weight 9 gravitates about its pivot 10 and thereby forces the said pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 6. The cables 11 are vwound about the drums 4 thereby normally forming a means for l1olding the sections A and B together and thus when the said sections are released by the impact of the lowermost section A with some obstacle the cables 11 unwind and drop said lowermost section free of the section B except for the cables 11 which are normally held in place by reason of the ball 12 carrying the upper end of the cables 11 and seating in the socket 13 provided with the cable slot 14. Said sockets 13 are carried on the short arms of a bell crank lever 15 each pivoted at 16, the long arms of said levers seat on the leaf springs 17 and the extreme ends engaging latches 18 and 19 which are released by pulling the cable 20 which pulls the lower end 21 out of engagement with the catch 22 which normally acts to hold the latch in position. In this way the lower section A is still suspended from the section B even though it be released by the impact against the obstacle in the path of the ship. However, if it is desired to effect a complete release of the section A from section B the cables 20 are pulled and as a consequence the ends of the bell crank levers are released and cables 11 are dropped out of the ball sockets 14. Extending from the central section B is a flexible passageway 23 which contains a suitably fastened flexible conduit 24 normally housed in the collapsible position when the sections are superposed on each other but opening out as shown in Fig. 2 when the sections are released, thus providing a passage between what may be suitably termed the sunken section A and the floating section B. The middle section carries the decks of the ship and also the fun nels 25, and superposed on the middle section is the top-most section C which is preferably in the form of a raft.

The uppermost section C is in connection with the middle section B by means of cables 26 which run over drums 27 of suitable windlasses provided with cranks 28 and ratchet wheels 29 controlled by pawls 30. Spring members such as shown at 31 urge pawls 30 into engagement with the ratchet wheels 29. These ratchets are, however, so arranged that the middle section is permitted to drop but may be pulled up again by means of cranks 28 of the wind lass, which by way of illustration are shown merely as hand driven but, in actual practice may be suitably arranged to be driven by machinery. The upper section C is slotted to permit the funnels 25 to pass therethrough.

Connecting the upper section to the mid dle section B is an air tight flexible passage 32 containing the endless conveyer 33 having buckets 34, such endless conveyer being connected with suitable crank mechanism 35. The passage 32 and its conveyer are unfolded or extended at the time the section B is released and then persons may be raised to the upper section 0 by driving said conveyor through the medium of the.

crank 35. The upper end of the conveyer is constructed as shown at Fig. 7 and is so arranged as to prevent water from entering the upper end of the passage, the head 36 being provided and covered by fabric cap 37 and supporting the track members 38 guiding the conveyors. Also, surrounding the track members are the buckets 39 and 40, respectively, one of which permits persons to pass down through the passage and the other of which permits persons to pass upward through the passage.

The operation of the boat is as follows:

Suppose the complete boat comes into complete contact with an iceberg, the weights 9 are jolted by the force of the impact and released from the ratchet 6 which thus permits the lowermost section A to sink without affecting the buoyant status of the sections B and G. This unfolds the conduit 23 and provides a passage for those remaining in the lowermost section and the middle section B. However, suppose that it is advisable to release the middle section from the lowermost section, then the cables 20 are pulled as hereinbefore explained and the section A is completely releasedfrom section B. Now suppose that section B is faulty or sinks for some other reason, the buoyancy of the section C retains the latter at the surface and its ratchets permit the cables 26 to unwind and allow section B to sink exclusive of section C. This unfolds the passage 32 and provides means of escape for those remaining in the section B. The section C may then remain suitably anchored in a position to indicate the position of the sunken sections, or it may be entirely released and proceed onward.

In order to provide an air passage for the lowermost section when both A and B are beneath the water the flexible air conduits 41 are provided and are Weighted at the bottom as shown at 42 and the heads thereof are retained in the uppermost section as shown at 43. These air conduits 41 unfold as the sections sink.

While in the foregoing T have described a specific embodiment of the present .invention it is nevertheless to be understood that, in actual practice, I may resort to such practical modifications as fall within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A boat including a hull laterally divided into three buoyant sections, means for releasing any section from the next adjacent section, and means affording a passage from each section to the others after release.

2. A boat including a hull laterally divided into three buoyant sections, means for releasing the lowermost section when the boat receives a shock, and means for subsequently releasing the next adjacent sections from each other.

3. A boat including a hull laterally divided into a plurality of buoyant sections, and means for suspending each section from the next adjacent section.

4:. A boat including a hull laterally di vided into three buoyant sections, means for suspending each section from the next adjacent section, and means affording a passage between such sections when suspended from each other.

5. A boat including a hull laterally divided into three buoyant sections, means for releasing such sections, said means including a device controlling the release of the lowermost section, and operative only when such lowermost section receives a shock as of impact.

6. A boat including a hull laterally divided into three buoyant sections, means for suspending such sections from each whereby the sections may be drawn together after having been separated, and means for disconnecting said connecting means.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

MARION FRANKLIN FOSTER.

Witnesses J OSEPH VAN PATTEN, C. 7. BRAUN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

